The Bay of Biscay is home to many types of migrating tuna:
Since the 17th century, the fishermen of St-Jean-de-Luz fished for tuna between May and October. Initially Luz's port was populated with small whale boats and sailed row boats , then in the 1900's, these were replaced by steam boats, which were then replaced around 1930 by diesel-motored boats. In the 1950s, Luz became France's main tuna fishing port.
There are several different types of fishing techniques:
Mounted on a dozen booms, trailing between 30 and 60 hooks covered with bait.
A net loaded with live anchovies is held alongside the hull to attract the tuna, which is then fished with lines of live bait.
When the live bait has been caught (anchovies, sardines or horse mackarel) called "peïta", and the shoal of tuna has been spotted, the "peîtero" throws this bait to attract the fish. Spray ramps create a mist of water, to hide the boat. The rodsman then hooks the live bait onto his hook by the stomach and begins fishing.
